Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Last week in my constituency, Ballymun, we saw the death of another man related to the illegal drugs industry. While other Deputies have spoken about addiction to gambling or alcohol, the reality is that if this gentleman had not had an addiction to illegal drugs he might likely be alive. If it is difficult to deal with the alcohol or gambling industry, try dealing with the Kinahans.

The reality is that we need to consider the commitments in the programme for Government to move towards examining how we dismantle the organised crime industry around the supply sale and supply of illegal drugs and ensure that we deal with people who have an addiction in a humane and health led way. In order to do that, we need to fund our local drugs task forces. I ask the Minister of State, given that there has not been an increase in funding for these task forces for more than six years, whether he can examine what funding might be available in next year's budget to ensure that we support this important work.

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